California is an exciting place when it comes to food:  it has some of the world's best produce and Alice Water's, arguably Americas most influential chef, has been redefining how Americans eat from her Northern Californian restaurant by celebrating seasonal, fresh ingredients for years. Historically it has been influenced by Japanese, Chinese, Mediterranean and Latin food. The  American fusion food movement was perfected on the west coast and this recipe is my ode to California. I hope you enjoy it!  It is also romantic and perfect for a date in the coming new year!

Asian Marinated Flat Iron Steak

Ingredients:
2 La Cense flat iron steaks
2 tablespoons sherry or rice wine
2 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 inch piece ginger, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: Defrost the steaks, I like to either leave them in the refrigerator for a day or put them in a bowl of water for an hour. Mix the marinade together; season the steaks with salt and pepper, place in marinade. You can marinate the steaks for up to a day, I marinated them for 2 hours which I thought worked perfectly. These steaks are best grilled or broiled--- because it is winter, broiling is my preferred method. The secret to a perfectly seared steak is to preheat your broiler before you place the steaks underneath the broiler. You will want to broil them for about 4 minutes on each side, depending on your broiler, until they are medium rare. Enjoy!

For the rosemary shiitake mushrooms I just sautéed the mushrooms in a
tablespoon of butter and added fresh cracked pepper and rosemary.

Wasabi Whipped Potatoes

2 pounds russet or Idaho potatoes, peeled and halved
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup half and half
2 teaspoons of wasabi paste
Salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation: Boil the potatoes for around 40 minutes until they are
tender. Using a hand mixer whip the potatoes with butter and half and
half until they are smooth. Add wasabi and mix, season with
salt.